COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The 2025 NESCAC champion and NCAA quarterfinalist Bates field hockey team matched the program record with four NFHCA All-Region selections, as announced Wednesday by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.
Junior captain
Haley Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) and senior captain
Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg (Winchester, Mass.) were both named First Team All-Region in Region II while sophomores
Elsa Copeland (Toronto, Ontario) and
Ava Donohue (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) both earned Second Team All-Region honors. These are the first All-Region honors for all four Bobcats in their respective collegiate careers.
Dwight, the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, tied for ninth in NCAA Division III with 10 defensive saves on the season. She scored the game-winning goal against Colby and dished out three assists on the season. Dwight boasts 26 defensive saves in her impressive collegiate career to date.
Moloney-Kolenberg, one of 60 players nationally to be named to the NFHCA Division III Senior Team, led the Bobcats in points with 26, scoring 10 goals, including three game-winners. She also dished out a team-high six assists. With Moloney-Kolenberg as a key contributor from day one, the Bates class of 2026 won a school-record 52 games over the course of four years.
Copeland, also a second team All-NESCAC forward, ranked second on the Bobcats in both goals (7) and assists (5) in a breakout season for the talented two-sport athlete who stars for the women's lacrosse team in the spring. Copeland scored game-winning goals against Thomas, Wesleyan, and in the NCAA Sweet 16 against Amherst.
A two-year starter in goal, Donohue tied for third in the NESCAC in save percentage (.804) and ranked first with six shutouts. She turned in a trio of superlative performances in the NESCAC tournament for Bates, propelling the Bobcats to the program's first conference title. Four of Donohue's six shutouts came in the postseason. On Nov. 12, she became the first Bobcat in program history to be named the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Defensive Player of the Week, as she made a season-high 11 saves in the NESCAC semifinals against seven-time defending national champion Middlebury. Not only did Donohue shut out the Panthers, she also stopped four out of five shots in the shootout as Bates prevailed to move on to the championship game for the second straight season. Then in the NESCAC championship game, Donohue matched her performance from the day before, once again making 11 saves as the Bobcats defeated Wesleyan 2-0 to clinch the program's first NESCAC championship.
The four NFHCA All-Region selections for Bates matches the program record, set 23 years ago by the 2002 Bobcats.
The NFHCA Division III All-Region team announcement is the first in a list of NFHCA postseason awards over the next several weeks. Next to be announced are the NFHCA Regional Players of the Year on December 11, followed by the NFHCA All-American teams on December 16 and the NFHCA National Player of the Year on December 18.
